Buffer.



R. P. VERON.

BUFFER.

APPLicAfnoN man Auefz. mpgs.

flll'oanmS R. P. HERON.

BUFFER.

APPLKCATION FILED Aue.2. 1909 www@ mames ROBERT P. 0F SYRACUSE, NEW] 'EGE/l BUFFER.

[application le. .august 225,

Be it known that I, Bonner P. Herron, a eitiZen of the United States of A1i'ieriea,'and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga-and State oll New York7 have invented certain new and use'i'ul improvements in Bull'ers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bul'lers ior at? taelnnent to the feet and backs ol chairs and for use with other ilurniture where a wearing surface of great durability is desired and where it is preferred not tol use easters. For the wearing or contact surface of this buffer l use a block oi coinpressible material preferring to employ for this purpose hard ielt which is compressed into a hard button. Felt is very well suited to this purpose since it is noiseless. is very durable, does not in any way injure the lieors, may be made sullieiently hard to endure the i weight put upon it, and beingl water prooited as by cravenetting is not subject to injury from water or antiseptic solutions used in cleaning the floors. While these, bull'ers are particularly use'lful in connection with fur-f niture and especially as feet off/dumb Casters therefor, they may be employed for rarious other purposes. Yfor example, on the soles ot shoes, on the ends ol crutches,asiloor checks. etc. lt will be apparent therefore thatl employ the word bu ller" as a broad termflor my dei'iee whether it is used primarily to lessen the shock of impaet, to prerent shock, noise or injury by impart or eontart. or 'for other useful purposes i'or which it is adapted. lt

' will be obvious also that the bull'er need not be cireular or cylindrical but that it may be oblong or oll an)I other desired shape.

Une ol' the principal objects ol my inverh tion isto so utilize felt in such a bull'cr` pad or tip as to seeure all its natural iulvantages.

To this end l employ in making the birll'er f qualities aimed at by sizing' yet without any of the ill effects thereof.

My buier differs radically from any lother Specification of Letters Eatent.

iaftented lili 3.909. Serial No. 510,789.

of which l have knowledge in that the senr pressible material of which its body is made is compressed in and through a retainer and held by suitable means in the position to which it has been compressed; lfhe details of the coi'istrnetiion. and the method olf making the buili'erwill more Yfully appear later on in 'the speciieation. l

l'Vhile l. have illustrated several enibodiments olf my invention7 l. wish it to he understood that l do not liinit myself to the said embodiments. indeed this will be readily' apparent ltronithe claims appended hereto.

Referring to the drawings: liligure i is a perspective `View of the .linished linil'er. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the parts which make up the bn'il'er shown in disassembled position. Fig. 3 shows the disk struck frein the stock before it has been formed into the retainer. TEig. slillustrat's the method of making the builer showing` the linished inf fer and just enough of the press to make the method clear. Fig. 5 is a n-n'speetire riew oi the parts which make up a modification of my builer designed particularly for use as a foot for metal .'lurniture7 the parts heing;` shown in disassembled position. (i is a perspective view oi' the .finished butler the parts oi whiel-i are illustrated in Fig. 5. Fig. T is a perspeetiw'e View oi a modilied form of bulier haring a prongv and designed particularh ior use on small furniture. Fig. tl is a, section` through the butler shown in Fig. T. Fig. l) is a perspectiw. 'view of the preferred form of the buil'er. Fig. 'l0 .is a perspective i'iew of the parts whieh malte up the form oi butler illustrated in Fig. i), the parts being shown in disassembled position. lfig. .li is a plan `riew showing the disk struek from, the stoel; betere it has been formed into the retainer ior the l'lreferred ilorin of bull'er. l"

three dil'l'erent forms ol blanis tor the pronged attaching plate. Fig. l is i. perspective view ot' the prehirred form of my briller adai'ited 'for use especially as a small chair tip where, by reason of `its small sise, a la refe number o'l attaching proi'igs are un* .necessaryu ris suggested by the inodilications illus trated the attachiiremeans may vary widel7 and the retainer may also be varied.- However. it will be noted that the retainers used in the forms oi? the device shown in the tiret i2 shows (gli eight figures are of substantially the same construction. This retainer will now be described.

Referring to Fig. 3, 1 is the disk struck from the stock and constituting the blank from which the retainer cup is stamped. This disk 1 is drawn in a well known way to form the retainer cup having the hole 2 through its bottom, the edge pressure-resisting flange 3 and the upstanding flange consisting of the points el and the retaining lugs 5 separated from the former by spaces A6. 7 is the disk of compressible material from which I form the pad or cushion. Tlfis disk I make of very hard unsized felt of a diameter to fit within the retainer cup and of a thickness about the same as the depth of the cup or somewhat greater, the thickness necessary depending on the degree of 'hardness of the felt disk and being suflicient to secure inv the wearing button the desired thickness and hardness. A backing plate S of the same diameter as the disk is provided. The cup below the line of fold maybe made relatively shallow to save metal and to insure a high degree of compression. The metal parts above referred to are preferably 'of sheet steel and have great strength and rigidity. Wherethe buffer is to be used on light furniture and where great strength is not required some other metal as brass may of course be employed'.

Various different means for attaching the buffer are illustrated. As shown in Fig. 1 the points 4t may be left upstanding and will then serve as attaching means, it being readily possible to drive the buffer into the material of the article to which it is to be attached. lVhere this cannot be done owing to the nature of the material some other attaching means is obviously necessary and to adapt the-buffer to metal furniture it has been modified as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 by the addition of a socket tube. The modification illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 is provided with a center prong so that it may be driven like a nail into the wood or other relatively soft material to which it is to be secured.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6 the retainer, felt disk, and backing plate are the same as the corresponding parts in Fig. 2 and bear' the same reference numerals. In addition a socket tube 13 is provided. This tube is stamped out of sheet metal and has lugs 1G at its lowerend. Its upper part is provided with slits 17, and the upper end of the tube is turned inwardly slightly at 18 to enable the buffer to be readily inserted in the socket in the furniturev leg. YvVhen assembled the lugs 5 are bent down on the lugs 16 and the intermediate points 4 instead of being left upstanding` to constitute attaching means are also bent down upon the lugs 16 or between them, or they could be bent down upon the plate 8 vbetween the adjacent lugs.

Referring to Figs. 7 and S, the retainer and disk are numbered .correspondlngly to the same parts in the other figures. In this form of the buffer the attaching means consists of a tack 19 constituting an attaching prong which projects through the backing plate against the under side of which its head 2O The backing 'plate together with this tack is held permanently in position by means of the lugs 5, and the intermediate points 1 are also turned down upon it. This form of buffer is suitable for use for light furniture and may be made of sheet brass or other relatively soft material.

Figs. 9 to 13 illustrate the preferred form of my invention. In this form I employ a different attaching means, and am able to save metal by using a shallower retainer. This will more clearly appear from the following description: The retainer, ,as in the other forms, is provided with the iange 3 and has the hole 2 in its bottom. This retainer is stamped from the disk 1 l(sce ["ig. 11) in the same manner that the retainer of the other forms of the device is made. For convenience in bending, the outer edge of this disk which in the retainer becomes the upper edge is shown as provided with serrations 21. It might, however, have an unbroken edge. As in the other forms a block of felt 7 is compressed in and through the retainer and held in position. The fastening means consists of a pronged plate three forms of which, designated by the reference numerals 22-23 and 2:1, are shown in Fig. 12. Each of these is provided with prongs 25 which (as shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 13) are bent up at right angles to the plate.l The backing plate 8 has a central raised portion 2G which is surrounded by a narrow flange in a somewhat lower plane. The raised portion 26 is provided with holes 27 through which. the prongs 25 are inserted, the plate carrying the prongs occupying the space within the raised portion. The upper edge of the retainer is bent down upon the edge of the backing plate 8 which it will-be recalled is in a somewhat lower plane than the raised portion. This arrangement not only locates the attaching plate firmly and conveniently, but forms a desirable inish, the bent over teeth forming the edge of the retainer being in substantially the same plane as the upper surface of the raised portiom The mtachingprongs in this-constructicr` are firmly held and are an ellicient means for attaching the buffer which may be driven in like an ordinary nail. The blank 2Q is less wasteful of metal than the blank 211. The difference in these blanks results in a different angle of the face of the prongs. 'lhe plate 23 is suitable for use in small butl'ers such as are used for tips on small chairs. The use of a plurality of prongs affords a much securer fastening Llamas than does a backed.

The method ol making the buffer shown in F ig. l will be clear on reference to Fig. 4, and it will be apparent that the modificai tions shown in Figs. 6 and 7 are made in substantially the same way. The buiier ot F ig. l is made by placing Athe'dry 1felt disk in the retainer', laying the backing plate upon the back of the disk, plate and disk into the retainer which ac tion compresses the edge of the disk against the pressurelresisting flange of the retainer, causes the part of the disk opposite the central hole to be forced through it, thus forming a hard button, and bends the intermediate lugs on the flange down upon the backing plate to hold the parts firmly in' place. rlhis Will appear more in. detail' from Fig. i of the drawings in which the completed buffer is shown in place in the press. |lhe parts being assembled in the press, the plunger 9 pressed by the still spring 10 and movable with the upper die 12 forces the backing plate 8 and felt disk 7 into the retainer compressing the edges of the disk against the retaining 'ange 3 and forcing themiddie of it through the hole 2 in the bottom of the retainer and intothe lower die 11. The

single one and each is firmly `upper die 12 is provided with holes 13 which receive the attaching points d without bending them and with intermediate curved portions 14 Which bend the intermediate retaining lugs 5 inward and fold them down upon the top of the'backing plate 8. This is done rapidly and effectively in one operation so that only three machine operations all told are necessary in ina-king the butler. The lower die is effective in forming a but ton of the desired shape. lt'is obvious that to secure greater compression more than one press might be used, only the last vturning down the flange and each press having a deeper die than that of the press preceding it.

Thebuller shown in Figs. 5 and G is made in the same Way except that the socket tube is assembled-with the other parts and so cured thereto. In this case the .intermediate points l are bent down as Well asthe lugs 5. To secure this result the holes 13 in the upper die are omitted. The plunger is provided with a socket to receive the socket tube and with a curved portion to turn in the top edge of this tube. It may have also a centering pin.

In making the buffer shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the entire llange is bent down on the hacking plate. rl`he plunger is constructed to receive the prong 19. Otherwise the method that previously stated. l

rlhe method of making the buffer-shown in Figs. 9 to 13 is substantially that already stated. The attaching plate with its prongs 25 assembled with the hacking plate.

and forcing the' sition with the block compressed,

which is modified by the omission ofthe openings 13 and by the provision of penings or grooves in the plunger 9' to receive l the prongs of the attaching plate. Otherwise the method is that previously stated.

From the above it will be apparent that I have devised a very compact butter or" great usefulness for various purposes vwhich may readily be driven into the surface to which it is sought to be attached or into a socket,` which is almost as durable as steel and which has great hardness and pressure and Wear resisting power. While having no injurious eilect on polished floors and ,being noiseless.

What l-claim as my invention i:-

1. A buffer comprising aretainer having a hole in its bottom leaving a pressure resisting flange surrounding said hole, block oi' compressible fibrous material formed into a hard Contact button by compression against the flange and through the hole and by further compression of the art thus forced through the hole, a hacking plat-e for the block, means onthe retainer for re taining the backing plate and block' in poand means for attaching the butter. y

2. A butler comprising a retainer having a hole in its bottom, a block of unsized felt formed by having its edge supported, gripped and at the same time materially displaced with respect to said edge by compression into a cavity surrounded by a support for the edge and by further compression and shaping of said inner part, means i'or permanently holding in the retainer the felt block as thus formed with its inner part projecting compressed and its inner part through the hole in. the retainer to act as a contact button, butler. l 3. at buffer comprising a retainer having a hole in its bottom, a block ot unsized felt larger than said hole and of substantially uniform thickness compressed against the bottom ot' the retainer and through the hole therein and formed into a hard Contact button, and a backing plate therefor permanently secured to said retainer.

il. buiier crmiprising a retainer having a hole in its bottom, al block oiE `lelt larger than said hole having its outer part gripped against the bottom ot' the retainer adjacent the hole and its inner part materially displaced With respect to its outer part through said hole by compression of the block against thebottorn and through the hole, mcansior attaching the buffer, and means ior permanently 'fastening together said retainer, compressed block, and attaching means. l

5. it huli'er comprising a retainer, a pad and means for attaching the tra ' or cushion therein, a backing plate for said pad or cushion having a raised portion and a ange below the same snrrounding it, and a plate on the under side of the backing .1 plate Within the raised portion and ,having prongs projecting therethrough, theA upper edge of.the retainer being bent down upon the flange to hold-the parts permanently in assembled relation with the turned down edge and raised portion in substantially the 10 same plane.

Signed by ine at Syracuse, N. Y., county of Onondaga, this 29 day of July 1909.

ROBERT P. HER-ON.

Witnesses:

RAE E. KAPLAN, FRANK R. LEWIS. 

